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I have been setting up most of my guitars so that they suit most finger pickers and strummers alike in standard tuning with light strings, but I want to set up one of my guitars to specifically be played using DADGAD tuning and medium strings.

Can anyone share the string height you cut your nuts to for medium strings and the DADGAD tuning?

To be a little more specific, the finger picker I am building for is rather heavy handed and it is not uncommon for him to really bang the Lower D and A strings, which can cause a nasty buzz when the guitar is set up for standard tuning. I know the string needs to be higher, but I am unsure by how much.

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Reguards,

Ken H

as a player who has many times used this tuning all I've done is to adjust the truss rod when I've left it in that tuning for any amount of time...as far as saddle height perhaps using the temporary shim method to determine just how high he wants it would work, and then of course cut a new saddle to those specs....I have no idea on the nut issue...

Ken, I keep a couple of guitars permanently set up in DADGad. The set up for mine is just the same as any other guitar, however, I always use balanced sets of strings, with the strings a gauge heavier on the dropped ones, that is 1,2 and 6. That way the normal tensions are maintained.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Ken,

I don't measure string heights at the nut but use the method I learned on Frank Ford's frets.com of fretting on the third fret and tapping the strings at the first fret to hear the metallic ringing click. On the 6th (lowest) string I leave it a fraction higher than this for the open tunings when it goes down to D or C. If you go too high then you risk intonation problems when the player frets the lowest frets.

The string gauges you use combined with the amount of neck relief and action at the 12th fret will be more important and this needs to be matched to the playing style. I set the 6th string action at the 12th fret at around 6-7/64'ths and play with an almost flat neck in terms of relief. With the right string gauge you can drive this pretty hard without buzzing both flat-picking/strumming and fingerstyle in DADGAD.

Colin is on the nail with getting the right string gauges as balanced as you can. I aim to make my guitars responsive and use light gauge strings for DADGAD and other altered tunings even on the smaller scale length ones like the ladder braced Concert I just posted on. If D'Addario made standard sets of 13, 17, 24, 32, 42, 56 sets then I would use these. As they don't I make do with the EJ16's.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

hi Ken.
Something to consider as you grow... Your necks will benefit from lamination and/or reinforcement bars (carbon fiber, etc) It becomes more beneficial for players who change up tunings frequently. Some keep 1 guitar in dadgad, and another in standard tuning. Some use 1 guitar to do it all, and it's nice when a customer like the latter gets that one custom handmade guitar that is stable to "do it all". The next challenge is making a string that "handles it all" . That's probaby another forum for the future...

So, be the luthier who can handle it all!

Enjoy your day

Thanks for the replies and suggestions!

I normally dont have any issues at all, even with players that finger pick or the most heavy handed strummer. I fit into that latter catergory since I play the guitar to give up all of the volume it can give out and play pretty hard with a pick. I figure if it doesnt buzz with my playing style, most anybody else wont have a problem either.

Then.... I came across Derek (I'll leave his last name unsaid for now....you WILL hear from him later as this guy is an awesome artist). Derek's playing style is different than most fingerpickers in that somehow he "plucks" the Lower E and A strings in an almost up and down motion. Instead of the string getting its inertia from a "sideways" motion, Derek gives it a pluck that would be similar to what a harp player would give. I've never run across this before and I wonder how prominent it is among fingerpickers? The odd part is that when he played my guitars in standard tuning, he didnt have a problem but when he dropped into DADGAD, this is where the issue came into play. I might note that he didnt even hear the problem, but *I* could hear it and it bugged me. Even when I pointed it out to him, he still didnt hear it. Small issues like this seem to consume me.

He is used to medium strings, and this may have been the issue and may have solved the whole problem if I had had time to restring the guitars before he played them. I am just wondering if any of you have ran across this issue before and if changing the nut slot depth has made any difference. Since all but one of the guitars I am currently building is going to the Miami show, I dont want any surprises as far as playability when I get there. Several of the world's best artist are scheduled to demo my guitars in mini-concerts, and I want the demos to be flawless. Any tips or tricks are GREATLY appreciated! I especially appreciate the tip on the "custom" set of guages for this type of player. This is something I will definitely explore! Please keep the tips coming!

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Reguards,

Ken H